Shoreline, WA Fire Regulations: Fire Pits & Backyard Fires (2026)

Chapter 8.12's fire rule is narrow but absolute for park property: § 8.12.370 says no person may ignite, maintain, or participate in igniting, maintaining, or using any fire within a park except in a designated barbecue unit or a designated fire pit, unless the department authorizes a different arrangement in advance. This section governs only "city park area" as defined at § 8.12.010, meaning any area under the ownership, management, or control of the Shoreline Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department. The section sits in Article III of the chapter, so § 8.12.530 sets the penalty: a violation is a civil infraction subject to King County District Court rules and bail schedules, with a monetary penalty up to $500.00, restitution for facility damage, or both.

Section 8.12.550 adds that a violator can also lose park or recreation facility use privileges on top of any court penalty. Because designated barbecue units and fire pits are the only lawful spot, a portable propane grill or a fire built directly on the ground elsewhere in a park, even a small warming fire on the beach at Richmond Beach Saltwater Park, falls outside the exception unless the department has posted or authorized that specific location. Anyone planning a fire for a park event, such as a bonfire near Puget Sound, needs advance department authorization rather than relying on the designated-pit exception, since the statute treats authorization and the fixed pits as two separate paths to compliance.